Chapter 278

"I want to experience it too, damn it!"

Araki Yuai gave him an elbow in silence, then strode forward to relieve Natsume Chikage, who looked troubled:

"You pretty little sisters can give up; this little brother is already taken, his girlfriend is on her way."

"Please go back~"

Those girls were stunned:

"Really?"

"You're not lying to us, are you?"

Natsume Chikage nodded at the right time:

"…It's true, I have a girlfriend."

Upon hearing this, the girls' faces were instantly filled with disappointment, and they dispersed sullenly.

Yasui Ryouto, however, widened his eyes in shock:

"Really?!"

"Natsume-kun, you have a girlfriend?!"

Araki Yuai teased him impatiently:

"This is obviously an excuse to dismiss those girls; why do you believe it like they do?"

"Are you an idiot?"

Yasui Ryouto suddenly realized:

"Oh… so that's how it is."

Natsume Chikage nodded to Araki Yuai in thanks:

"Araki-senpai, thank you for the relief just now."

Araki Yuai waved her hand casually and said bluntly:

"Haha, what's there to thank for."

"If you really want to thank me, just let me eat a few more pieces of sushi later—oh right, congratulations on winning the match today!"

Yasui Ryouto also pretended to congratulate him:

"Natsume-kun, congratulations on advancing; please be sure to work hard next time and definitely keep winning!"

Natsume Chikage nodded with a smile:

"Mm, thank you."

Mentioning the match, Yasui Ryouto couldn't help but complain:

"Right! You kid, didn't you say last time that you hadn't played many games of shogi in total?"

"Now you've even won against that guy Fukuda Tsukasa?"

"That guy is a famous 'newbie killer,' how could a beginner deal with him?"

"So you must have been lying at the time—come on, be honest, how many games have you played since you started learning shogi?"

Araki Yuai also put her hands on her hips, pretending to be serious:

"Exactly! Tell us—this is senpai's order!"

Natsume Chikage was a bit dumbfounded, but could only continue to "correct" his story.

Not long ago, he said "a thousand games" to the Furukawa grandfather and granddaughter and was thought to be too few, but they didn't say how many games a normal high school student studying shogi should have.

He didn't have a bottom line in his heart either, so he just tried multiplying it by a few more times.

"About… five thousand games?"

Yasui Ryouto had an "I knew it" expression:

"I knew you kid were fooling us at the time!"

But he immediately changed the subject and couldn't help but complain again.

"But you've only played five thousand games, isn't that too few?"

"That guy Fukuda Tsukasa probably plays two or three thousand games a year."

Araki Yuai was also a bit dumbfounded:

"Huh? Only five thousand games, so few?"

"The three years I've been playing combined probably exceed this number."

Natsume Chikage was slightly startled.

This is still few?

How many count as "normal"?

Araki Yuai muttered in a low voice:

"Looking at it this way, Natsume-kun, you still have shogi talent."

"Actually not joining our Shogi Club but running off to some Collection Club? Senpai is very angry!"

Yasui Ryouto also widened his eyes and agreed:

"Exactly, why on earth didn't you choose our Shogi Club?"

Looking at the two of them with the stance of "not stopping until you explain clearly," Natsume Chikage had to explain patiently:

"The Shogi Club's activity time is too long."

"Playing a game of shogi takes a long time, not to mention playing several games every day."

"My family's financial situation is not very good right now, and I need to work part-time…"

"The president of the Collection Club is my classmate; she said I can adjust my time freely, and it doesn't matter if I ask for leave, so I chose the Collection Club."

This explanation silenced the two who originally wanted to "hold him accountable."

They thought about it carefully and felt that Natsume Chikage's situation was indeed beyond reproach.

The family's decline, plus a younger sister who needs to be taken care of—the pressure of survival is a reality right in front of them.

In this situation, if he sacrificed his part-time work time for his hobbies, it would indeed be putting the cart before the horse.

After all, compared to shogi, survival is the top priority.

Natsume Chikage's time no longer belonged entirely to himself.

If he didn't work hard, his younger sister, who was still in junior high school, would probably really face a predicament.

Araki Yuai patted Natsume Chikage's shoulder, her tone softening, carrying understanding and helplessness:

"So that's how it is… then there's really no way; senpai forgives you."

Yasui Ryouto also changed the subject at the right time:

"It's only five o'clock now, wouldn't it be a bit early to have dinner directly?"

Upon hearing this, Araki Yuai's eyes lit up, and she quickly suggested:

"Right, right, right! Why don't we wander around the area first?"

Natsume Chikage had only eaten the bento his sister prepared after three o'clock in the afternoon, so he wasn't very hungry at the moment.

He didn't seem to have anything else to do in the evening, so wandering around was fine.

"Mm, okay."

Araki Yuai was secretly happy; the plan was proceeding smoothly!

She immediately took out her phone quietly and contacted Tsukishima Rin.

【Araki Yuai: Natsume-kun agreed, plan initiated! Where are you now? Come over quickly and 'bump into' us!】

However, after the message was sent, there was no reply for a long time.

Araki Yuai was stunned.

What's the situation?

Why isn't Tsukishima Rin replying?

Could it be… that some unexpected situation happened?